The Strongest
by Corolin
Summary: A standalone short story about the potential of Zaraki Kenpachi. This may contain spoilers from the manga up to chapter 213: Trifle, so be warned!


**The Strongest**

A stand-alone story of the potential of Zaraki Kenpachi. Current to the story as far as the manga chapter213: _Trifle._

The city of the Material World lay under a blanket of darkness, rain pouring down from a foreboding sky, but it still stirred. Late pedestrians still crowded the sidewalks, and cars streaked down the slick streets. One man on the sidewalks did not seem bothered by the rain nor the darkness. Other pedestrians passed by the man, who rose above them by at least two feet, without noticing him in the least. This is most certainly strange, as aside from the man's great size, he wore massive flowing robes and his hair radiated out from his head in bell-tipped spikes. From those who could not recognize him from his Captain-rank armband or his 11th division symbol, this man was one Zaraki Kenpachi.

_Where the hell am I?_ Zaraki Kenpachi thought as he vainly attempted to navigate with the cellphone provided to him earlier that day by Soul Society. The arrow currently pointed in the opposite direction he was going, but rather than heeding it, Zaraki disgustedly threw it to his feet and crushed it. He thought briefly upon the orders he'd received earlier.

"Due to the all-out attack made by the Apostate Aizen Sosuke's forces on Sector 13.1A, I am sending you to reinforce them. I have also raised wartime restriction limits to level Zero, full war outside the bounds of Soul Society. Power limiters in the material world are no longer necessary. We will place you outside the city that comprises most of Sector 13.1A and I want you to reconnoiter with Captain Hitsugaya Toushirou, the current leader of the team there." Yamamoto Genryuusai, of the 1st division, had given him some very interesting orders; ones that Zaraki Kenpachi had eagerly accepted.

"Sounds like fun," was all he has said before taking the spirit cellphone and departing. Yamamoto had given him a slightly reprimanding glance for his blasé remark, but the old man knew that was just the way Kenpachi acted. He hoped the wild spirit of the younger shinigmai would eventually discipline itself, but he knew it was probably too much to hope for. Genryuusai saw a great potential within Zaraki Kenpachi, but the 11th division captain was still too ignorant to control it.

When Kenpachi has been sent to the material world, he immediately set out… in the wrong direction. Despite the importuning of the spirit cellphone's compass-map, he wandered through miles of countryside, eventually coming to another city. This city was hard to miss, sprawling buildings of enormous proportions, as big as the Shrine of Penitence, were packed together as far as the eye could see. Though it was dark in the world, the city blazed with artificial light. Zaraki thought it altogether strange, but figured he had come where he was supposed to.

He grew increasingly annoyed at the size of the city as he attempted to explore it. He saw many signs, most of them having the word "Tokyo" on them. Zaraki assumed it was the name of the city but paid little heed to it otherwise.

As the 11th division captain stood at a crosswalk, wondering what to do next, he felt a presence watching him. He was hard-pressed to explain exactly how he could feel it, as he was nearly blind to spirit pressure. He waited to see what it would do, his hand resting lightly on the hilt of his zanpakutoh.

"Hey! What's another shinigmai doing on my beat?" a voice shouted from behind him brazenly. Zaraki thought he recognized it. It was that obnoxious 6th seat of the 9th division, Zaraki had never known his name, but remembered him because he felt an intense dislike for the man, thinking him a coward.

Before the lower shinigmai could react, Zaraki's zanpakutoh was at his throat. "And what, exactly, is a 6th seat doing forgetting what his superiors look like?" Zaraki growled menacingly. The man had immediately broken into a cold sweat upon seeing Zaraki's face.

"Ah! Ah! Ah!" the man looked like he was about to wet himself. "Captain Zaraki Kenpachi! I'm terribly sorry, but I didn't expect a captain to interfere with my minor sector job."

"Have you not been informed of the wartime releases and shinigmai mobilization?" Zaraki glared at the 6th seat.

"Well….y-yes, but no one else was sent here to back me up, and there haven't been any attacks here other than normal hollow activity," the man sweated.

Zaraki became confused. "Isn't this Sector 13.1A, under the command of Hitsugaya Toushirou?" he asked.

The lower shinigmai looked confused now. "No…this is Sector 13.1B. You're 30 miles from the border between the two sectors." He gulped audibly, "ah…Captain Zaraki…could you please put your sword down now?"

Disgustedly, Zaraki sheathed his blade and glanced around. He thought he'd felt a chill in the air for some reason, even though he was immune to temperature differentials in spirit form. "Well, take me to Sector 13.1A until I meet with Captain Hitsugaya. You can suspend your current duties for a day."

The other shinigmai looked like he might have argued with anyone but Zaraki Kenpachi on those orders. This was, unfortunately for him, not the case. "Yes sir! Right away sir!" He turned and began consulting his spirit cellphone to send information back to headquarters. He raised the phone to his ear, but then put it down puzzled. "I can't contact HQ; all I'm getting is a buzz in the phone. Strange…"

Then, without warning, the shinigami's phone as well as the remains of Zaraki's phone on the ground began beeping with the normal hollow-proximity alarm. The sound was, however, decidedly louder and more high-pitched than normal, and the explosion of both phones after a few seconds was definitely not regulation.

Kenpachi suddenly realized that the feeling of the presence watching him had never faded; it was not the other shinigmai. Whatever it was, it was somewhere near and Kenpachi could tell it had its attention quite fixed on him.

Without warning, a wave of bloodlust and killing intent swept over Kenpachi and the other shinigami. Kenpachi's blood froze at the pure coldness and cruelty of it, and he felt his body begin to bleed and hemorrhage from every pore. Though he knew it was simply the manifestation of killing intent, he couldn't help but be astounded at its intensity. The other shinigami screamed as the same thing happened to him. He doubled over and began to wretch as a massive spirit pressure bore down like a massive ceiling.

Kenpachi whipped about, his sword again unsheathed, but the ravaging bloodlust and spirit pressure came from all directions, blinding what little awareness he had. The other shinigami looked like he was pinned to the ground.

"Get out here and fight, whatever you are!" Kenpachi shouted into the air. He turned an eye to the sickened shinigami on the ground. "Get up and get out of here; you're obviously too weak to even stand and watch. Report to section 13.1A or something, but I'd just advise you to run the hell away!"

Obviously using every ounce of spirit power he had, the 6th seat heaved himself up and began to stumble away in a blind panic. However, as he moved no less than 10 meters away from Zaraki, the bloodlust spiked in a killing dive, and Kenpachi saw a shadow rise from the ground behind the running 6th seat. A patch of extreme darkness reared up 2 1/2 meters from the ground, and burst open. The 6th seat shrieked and tried to run away, tripping as he did and falling screaming to the wet, hard sidewalk.

From the shadow stepped a sickeningly pale figure, ridiculously tall and thin, with green robes. On its back was strapped a massive, wavy sword, but rather than using it, an emaciated hand shot from the robes, grabbing onto the face of the terrified shinigami. The figure stood to its full height, and lifted the hapless shinigami to an unreal 3 meters. From the figure came an amazingly deep laugh, diabolic and cruel…and then the street exploded.

Or at least that's what it looked like to Zaraki Kenpachi. A globe of energy surrounded the figure and shinigami and blasted outward, crippling a building and creating a large crater. Material worlders began screaming and running in terror.

The energy quickly recoalesced back into a center point, and the nearly 3-meter creature stood holding a skeleton. The bones dissolved into wisps of spirit energy, and the figure turned. Its face was yellowish and completely smooth, with hooded eyes that had narrowed, snake-like pupils. All that remained of its mask was a cowl of ivory covered in green-tipped spikes.

"Ah, Zaraki Kenpachi, Captain of the 11th division," the figure's voice echoed in the vaults of Zaraki's mind. "I am Calamojin Casaste, of the Espada Arrancar, Numero Cinco. It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person. Ever since my creation as an Arrancar I have respected you as the greatest true warrior of the shinigami. Your single-mindedness in battle is respected among the Espada." The voice was dark and gravelly, despite the thinness of the Arrancar's appearance. It ended its last comment with a sweeping, rather mocking bow.

"Arrancar is it? What luck that I happen to find one of you on my first day out of Soul Society. Such a high-sounding rank too, this should be fun…" Zaraki grinned evilly. But then his grin turned into a grimace of annoyance as he remembered the hapless 6th seat, "Why bother killing such a weak one though? Spending time killing them shows you are merely as weak as they. Only when fighting someone truly strong can you call yourself strong as well!" Zaraki ended with a shout and launched himself at the Arrancar.

Faster than Zaraki could follow, Calamojin flashed out with a hand, and caught Zaraki's blade between two fingers. He pushed the sword back, and Zaraki jumped backwards, the first probing attack a failure.

"Make no mistake, Zaraki Kenpachi," drawled Calamojin, towering even above the massive 11th division captain. "There was no luck that brought us to meet tonight. Aizen-sama wished to have you eliminated as soon as you were vulnerable, to get rid of a potential threat. The only luck involved was that I was chosen to find and kill you."

Zaraki eyed the vampiric Arrancar. "Oh? What exactly is lucky about that?" he circled around, trying to estimate his opponent.

The Arrancar's eyes glinted with amusement. "Ever since I was "born" as an Arrancar, I have regarded you with great respect. I respect your great power and insatiable lust for battle, and they are traits I hold myself. However, there is one thing I cannot understand that I have wanted to ask you in person before you die."

"Well, I doubt I'll be dying anytime soon," Zaraki said maliciously, "But ask anyways. Just make it quick; I'm ready to fight."

Calamojin also had a nasty tone to his voice, "Of course; nothing would please me better than to fight you. However, burning curiosity must be satisfied. Why do you refuse to acknowledge your zanpakutoh? You could very well be the greatest power in all of Soul Society yet you knowingly limit yourself, making your zanpakutoh work against you rather than for you. Have you ever noticed that it does not heal itself as well as other zanpakutohs? The nicks and scars upon it are not from fighting others, but from fighting against you. Why do you refuse to realize the potential of your zanpakutoh?"

Kenpachi smirked, "Another one of those zanpakutoh sentimentalists eh? Zanpakutohs are merely swords, nothing more. Those who speak of fighting with them are merely seeking a crutch to hide their weakness. I rely only on my own power. If I did anything else, I'd be as weak as all the others."

Calamojin looked disappointed, disgusted, and resigned all at the same time. "Up close, I can see you are merely a fool, not the great warrior I respected from afar. How disappointing. I am glad I can kill you now before you wear your blade down to nothing more than a large pithing needle." He grasped the sword on his back, and swung it into ready position. It was huge for a zanpakutoh, having a flaring hilt of dragon wings and a large wavy blade. It almost looked like a flickering flame.

"Talk is cheap! We'll fight to see who the strongest is, and the person that wins is right! That's how it has always been since the beginning of time." Zaraki again leaped towards Calamojin, his blade flashing through the air.

The two blades met in a clash of sparks and a thunderous clang, and the dance of swordplay began. Zaraki kept up a savage offense, often nearly striking in two places at once. However, the Arrancar seemed to have no trouble keeping up. The waves on his blade caught Zaraki's katana easily, and his blows seemed to almost jump off the larger blade.

"Interesting zanpakutoh there," Zaraki commented while attempting an upward slash to Calamojin's face. "Never seen anything like it before."

Calamojin easily blocked the slash, sent Zaraki's blade wide to the right, and slashed across the shinigami's left shoulder. "It's a flamberge; more suited to my personality than a katana," he replied, dancing back from Zaraki's return slash.

Then, suddenly, Zaraki ducked under the tall Arrancar's guard, caught the downswing of Calamojin's attack with his off-hand, and slashed Calamojin across his narrow torso. The flamberge was much heavier than a katana, and it bit deeper into Zaraki's hand than he had expected, but blood gushed from the Arrancar in a copious, unnaturally-colored ooze, so Zaraki figured it was a fair trade-off.

"This is getting to be very enjoyable, don't tell me this is all you've got," Zaraki grinned as the Arrancar went down to one knee. He cleaned his blade on the side of a building with a steely rasp as Calamojin stood up.

Gone was the slightly playful or demeaning attitude the Arrancar had previously. Now fire burned in his eyes and a sneer formed on his mouth. "I have not yet begun to fight, Zaraki Kenpachi; you will know the true horror of fighting one of the Espada Arrancar!" The bloodlust aura raged outward, making deep, bloody gashes seem to appear across Zaraki's body for a split-second, and the Arrancar's spirit pressure heightened. Zaraki Kenpachi stood, grinning in anticipation for the true fight about to commence.

The unnaturally tall Arrancar raised his zanpakutoh as it was bathed in an aura of unearthly power. "Darken the light of Justice, Geljorgun!" and the great flamberge turned black and blazed with an impossible dark glow, creating a nimbus of darkness in the already velvet night.

Sheets of black hollow-armor cascaded up the body of the Arrancar, turning its overly thin, tall body into a massive juggernaut. The flamberge shifted and became long, wavy claws that jutted three at a time from both of the Arrancar's hands.

The now-massive Arrancar gazed haughtily at Zaraki Kenpachi's interested expression. "Look now upon the Arrancar's true might! I shall never be defeated by a fool who cannot use his own zanpakutoh!" He suddenly disappeared, attacking Kenpachi from behind. The 11th division captain received a laceration across his back before meeting the Arrancar's weapon with his own. The claws screeched across Zaraki's blade in a shower of sparks.

"Really? I think I can use my zanpakutoh just fine. You should shut up and enjoy the fight; it's just getting interesting!" Suddenly deciding to increase to his full effort, Zaraki threw Calamojin's claws off his blade and slashed at the Arrancar's chest. Calamojin flickered away from the blow with unbelievable speed, and returned with a flashing, double-claw attack that Zaraki only succeeded in partially blocking. The wavy claws drew a large gash across his left shoulder and blood flowed freely. Zaraki, seemingly unaware, grinned maniacally and stabbed as Calamojin was recovering from his attack.

The huge Arrancar swept Zaraki's attack aside with one claw and stabbed forward this time. It was Zaraki's turn to flicker away; not quite as fast, but still avoiding the blow. However, as Zaraki leapt back, he saw Calamojin disappear again and he felt a massive amount of pain as the six claws made a great x-slash on his back. Blood sprayed into the night as Zaraki quickly wheeled around, his blade flashing in an arc…

Only to be caught in a scissor-hold as the blade claws closed around his zanpakutoh like a vise. The Arrancar's large, bright eyes glinted with an unholy cruelty.

"Arrancar of the Espada are much stronger than your average captain of soul society, especially one who cannot use his zanpakutoh. I held back in the hopes you would gain the sense to use it against me, but you have failed my expectations. Farewell, Zaraki Kenpachi; you were strong, but in the end a fool." Calamojin completed the scissor cut, releasing a blast of spirit energy as his claws crunched through Zaraki's zanpakutoh, shattering the pitted blade like glass. Somewhat surreally, Zaraki watched the massive claws rake across his face and chest in slow motion, drawing more gouts of blood. Somewhat bemused, Zaraki fell to the ground on top of fragments of his zanpakutoh. He painfully raised his head to see the Arrancar lick the blood from his claws and begin to walk away.

_Well,_ he thought, _that's how it happens in the end. You fight your whole life and eventually fight someone stronger than you and get killed. It happens to everyone…except stupid main characters…_

Suddenly, the world froze in place. The rain stopped falling, cars stopped moving, and even Calamojin, walking away disdainfully, froze mid-swagger. Impossibly, a mirror rose out of the ground, blocking the Arrancar from view. It was neither ornate nor framed, but a simple pane of reflective glass showing Zaraki in his sorry state.

To his amazement, the figure of himself got up from the ground, dusted himself off, and fixed the real Zaraki with a dark glare.

"He's right you know, you are pathetic," the mirror Zaraki growled disgustedly. "I should just let you die, fool. Unfortunately, that means I'd go as well, and I think both of us want to fight more battles. However, you're going to have to learn to work with me to survive this one."

Zaraki only looked at the moving reflection in consternation. "Who the hell are you?" The reflections eyes widened, but then narrowed again in anger.

"I suppose I should've known. You've buried me so deep in your soul you refuse to even recognize me. I'm the spirit of your zanpakutoh, though rather under worked if you ask me, Every time you fight I try to help you, but you only push me deeper into your soul, weakening yourself. You've been getting weaker over the years as you constantly reject me, and your sword continues to fall apart."

"No…" Zaraki said stubbornly even when presented with ultimate truth. "Zanpakutohs don't have souls, they're just swords…fighting with your zanpakutoh is just a mental crutch for the weak. Relying on another to win is weak!"

"I AM you, you fool!" the mirror Zaraki raged at the real one. "I am a part of your soul as much as every part of your body. I am the seal on your true power, and if you don't use me, then that power will always remained locked away. You have it, why don't you use it damn you? Fighting with me is the same as fighting alone, that's what you don't understand. The power I represent is undeniably yours."

"Impossible…" Zaraki groaned as he lay on the ground.

"Well you'd better get used to it if you want to continue fighting. Other shinigami like to think of their zanpakutohs as separate entities, but it is simply a mindset. Choose to think of me as an extension of yourself; it's the closest thing to the truth anyways."

The mirror Zaraki locked gazes with the real one, and Zaraki was transported to a mindscape where he saw a great golden river. It flowed powerfully and cut through the landscape in a jagged pattern. As Zaraki continued to look, however, he saw that the river was blocked by something. Damming the river at its narrowest point was a massive blade, reminiscent of his Zanpakutoh. The golden river raged at it, but could not break through.

"What is this?" he thought, but somehow his thoughts translated into vocal words.

Another Zaraki appeared beside him. "This is a representation of your soul. This great river is the power that flows from your _Hakusui_, the most inner core of your soul. However, as you can see, only a trickle of it is getting past that dam that you've made of me over the years. I have been impaled deeper into your soul than any Zanpakutoh should be, and only a fraction of your power can escape your soul. You need to pull me out of the hole that you've placed me in. Then this river of power can flow out from your soul and make the two of us invincible."

Zaraki looked stunned. "What is…your name?" Zaraki asked for the second time in his life, interestingly enough both times having been in a similar condition.

The mirror Zaraki grinned. "Now why should I have a name when you never had one? Give me a name like you did to yourself, and I will come. Now, I believe we have a fight to finish. You only need to release me from the recesses of your soul." Zaraki faded out of the mindscape and saw his mirror image again. The reflection held its hand out, passing through the mirror. As it did, it turned into the hilt of a katana. Slowly, Zaraki reached out and took it, and the golden river burst free…

As Calamojin walked away from the rather disappointing fight, a thundering roar tore through the air behind him. Calamojin felt the heat around him rise as energy charged the air. His eyes widened and he smiled in anticipation. _Evidently the shinigami had enough energy to release the limiting device over his eye. This fight could still be interesting._

Calamojin turned around and was struck by the full nimbus of power Zaraki Kenpachi now exuded. Coherent light speared outwards in a blinding explosion. Calamojin was nearly staggered by its enormity.

"I see you've removed that ridiculous limiter over your eye, Zaraki Kenpachi. Now we can truly fight. I will warn you though, I know of its power and even this will not…help…y…" he trailed off in astonishment.

For Zaraki Kenpachi, standing bloodless with a full and immaculate zanpakutoh, still had an eye patch over his right eye.

Zaraki smiled evilly. "Well whaddya know? It looks like it is still on. But…if you want me to play with it off, that's fine with me too." He slowly reached up to pull away his eye patch, and it disintegrated under his fingers, unable to handle the massive energies hammering it.

The power release was phenomenal. A shockwave of energy flashed outwards, knocking Calamojin Casaste over. An explosion of spirit pressure brought the Arrancar to his knees, claws digging impotently into the ground. The air around Zaraki Kenpachi glowed a pure golden color and cracks appeared in the sidewalk and the building near him.

"Impossible! Where did you get this power? How can you have this strength!" roared the stupefied Arrancar. _His aura is so powerful that it's translating into the material world and manipulating it. No Soul Society Captain is that strong! _He thought vainly as he struggled to rise.

"I am beyond strong," Zaraki Kenpachi spoke, looking down disdainfully at the Arrancar. "I am part of the battle itself. Here and now, I am nothing but the fight; all else is discarded." He experimentally struck his sword against a nearby building, one perhaps thirty stories high. Not only that building, but also the three behind it and four to the side were bisected in a flash of power and crumbled in a landslide of glass and metal. Air raid sirens began striking a high-pitched wail in the wet air, and Zaraki stood over the Arrancar, smiling.

"Let's finish this battle, _Watashi_," he intoned, and something within his zanpakutoh awoke, sending golden fire cascading up the blade like the air around him. The Arrancar stood, and the fear of understanding began to creep across his features as he realized the statements implications.

"You…learned the name of your Zanpakutoh? How could this happen?" he said fearfully, not truly a question but a statement of helplessness.

"I'll let you be the judge of whether I learned it or not!" shouted Zaraki as he brought the mirror-finish blade down upon the Arrancar.

Claws flashing, Calamojin double-blocked the blade. The force of the blow transferred through him shudderingly and cracked the building behind him in two. "I see you've finally revealed yourself as a worthy opponent, Zaraki Kenpachi, for the 5th member of the Espada Arrancar," he growled low, deep, his large eyes narrowing into smoldering red slits. "For the first time, I can bring forth all the power that Aizen-sama has given me!" and so did the true fight begin.

The Arrancar threw Zaraki's blade upwards and slashed across his chest. Zaraki neatly sidestepped it with a minute shyun-po and rained blurring blows upon the Arrancar. Slowly at first, but with growing precision, Calamojin blocked them all, and returned a few blows of his own, in turn blocked. The two warriors began to test upward and upward the limits of their power, and it was a terrible sight to behold. Every miss destroyed a building, every blocked hit made a crater, every score drew splashes of blood. People in the material world ran in terror from the invisible death-struggle, and skyscrapers fell like matchsticks.

Zaraki laughed in delight at the incredible battle before him. His blade felt as if it were a hundred pounds lighter than it had ever been before, but he realized that this was its true weight. For the many years he had resisted his Zanpakutoh, the blade had held back at every blow and weighed heavy in his hands. Now it was an extension of himself; Zaraki felt as if he was using only his own two hands to fight, and that, he reflected, is how it should be.

Unfortunately for the Arrancar, it reached a plateau in its power. After a while its speed and power stopped increasing: it had reached its limit. Zaraki Kenpachi did not. He kept rising in power, an implacable force of destruction. The Arrancar became more and more desperate in its evasions and attacks, and multiple wounds scarred the Hollow armor as streams of purple ichor ran from them.

Finally, hitting his peak, Zaraki yelled, "Let's go! _Watashi_!" as he brought his Zanpakutoh down in a massive, over handed blow. Calamojin raised his wavy claws to block it, and they shattered into metal fragments. The blade carved cleanly through Calamojin's left arm and the street below, severing a water pipe and causing more water to spray out and drench the area even more so than the now-torrential rain. The Arrancar writhed in pain and screamed a terrible curse. He eyed the stump of his arm and the purple ichor spraying from it, and then looked at Zaraki Kenpachi. This was not a look of fear though, oh no. The only thing on the Arrancar's face was a pure, all-consuming rage.

"How….DARE YOU!" Calamojin screamed, the voice now high and piercing, overlaid with almost supersonic tones of fury.

Zaraki shrugged, "I'm just stronger than you, that's all. All warriors live to fight and eventually get killed by someone stronger. It's how all true warriors live their lives every day. It is something you must face, Arrancar."

The Arrancar glared at him and hissed with pain, a remarkably snake-like sound, "I see, I see. Truly, you Zaraki Kenpachi, are a being to be reckoned with even by the standards of the Espada Arrancar. Unfortunately, today is not the day I meet my destined stronger opponent as you so believe I have. Aizen-sama ordered us not to reveal this power until his final plan was enacted, but I believe he will grant me exception…_after the fact_."

The Arrancar stooped to pick up his severed arm and continued, his voice ringing stronger and crueler. "The Arrancar's secret of power is the mix of Hollow and Shinigami souls. Only in this union is a completely new, limitless being created. Unreleased, our shinigami half is dominant, and we seem to take the shape of such a being. In shi-kai, the Arrancar's hollow half rotates to dominance, granting a boost of raw power but remaining essentially the same creature."

"However," he persisted, drawing in his power to a concentrated aura, "the two souls are never truly mixed. Most Arrancar succeed only in gaining that raw boost of power. It is only in the Vastroodes of the first five ranks of the Espada Arrancar that this changes. All of the top five know the secret of the Arrancar ban-kai, which, rather than allowing one half of the soul to become dominant, mixes the two halves to create that wholly new being I spoke of. It is far harder to achieve, and far more powerful than your normal Shinigami ban-kai!" Calamojin suddenly reverted to his unreleased form, holding a broken flamberge in his still-attached right arm. He impaled the severed arm upon the broken Zanpakutoh and called out in a sonorous voice, "Arise Geljorgun, Lord of Demons. BAN-KAI!"

Calamojin's aura became half red and half blue, then swirled together. As the two colors mixed, a detonation of white light obscured all vision for an instant, and the power was unlike anything Zaraki Kenpachi had ever experienced. Beyond anything creatable in Soul Society, it dwarfed even the spirit pressure of multiple captains. A tornado of reddish energy roared in place around the Arrancar, hiding it as rubble tore through the air. Cracks ruptured the streets and buildings, radiating out from the transformation, glowing red as they extended down into the very core of the Earth. The pure energy in the air caused sheets of lightning to crack down out of the sky and the water on the streets to hiss into steam, creating a red cloud over the entire massive city. Within the cloud, the face of something too awful to comprehend opened its eyes for the first time and roared like the crack of doom.

The vortex of power around the Arrancar exploded, showing Calamojin as a dark figure inside a halo of red and black flames. Then fire shot from his body in rivers, covering the city in a mass of death. Calamojin had become a thing from nightmares. Taller even than before, but no longer gaunt and thin, he was completely black and his skin shone like obsidian. Smoke rose from his mouth, and his eyes glowed with the light of Hell. Above him, the face in the cloud of blood-red steam turned its gaze upon Zaraki Kenpachi, who stood in the awful glory of the Arrancar's power seemingly unfazed.

"Look upon me and despair, pathetic Shinigami," the face and Arrancar spoke simultaneously. The voice was now deeper than even before and echoed through the city even into the Material World. "I have been reborn in the image of Hell itself, and my power is of such a different order that it cannot be contained within one body!" he indicated the demonic, amorphous face in the cloud above. "This is the difference that separates us, one so great that not even you, Zaraki Kenpachi, can hope to make up for it!" The face in the cloud and Calamojin himself threw their heads back and laughed in utterly demonic, insane mirth.

The flames swirled around the Arrancar now, and became in the form of a massive flamberge, truer to its name than any human-wielded one. The halo of flame broke and the Arrancar dove towards Kenpachi, fire blasting outwards, making the demonic creature seem to be an unstoppable, blazing comet. As Zaraki Kenpachi stood in the face of a heat greater than a volcano, he raised his sword and spoke three words with a grin.

"Bring it on."

The great flaming blade struck against Zaraki's katana with a force that could break mountains, fire blazing out to strike Zaraki before the blade did. Only the Shinigami's massive spirit power kept it at bay, yet his will began to crumble. Zaraki pushed with all his power, but Calamojin Casaste exerted a force unbelievable and implacable. The hellish demon aura beat against him wildly, insanely screaming hate in the now magmic night.

Zaraki felt the ban-kai's power quickly draining his own. It made sense of course; ban-kai allowed for such a power increase that a shi-kai could never hope to beat it. Well well well…there was a very simple way to solve that…

Zaraki concentrated on his zanpakutoh, so recently renamed, and spoke to it, "There needn't be such formalities as ban-kai and shi-kai between us Watashi. After all, we are truly one and the same. Just lend me all the power you have and I shall do the same. It is the only way to truly fight!"

Zaraki saw the golden river inside of his soul again, unobstructed and flowing powerfully. However, he saw it as if through a haze now, and he realized that it was still inside of his soul, not coming out into his conscious control. All he had to do was command it to leave the recesses of his soul and flow into his spiritual body, and all the power he would need would be at his command. Almost absently, he willed the golden river into existence.

Seeing it before it happened, the Arrancar pulled itself back into the cloud of steam. A flood of power erupted from Zaraki Kenpachi, smothering the flames around him. Golden energy flowed in a massive stream in all direction as Zaraki stood at the center of a supernova of power. The sword blazed with golden energy as well, obscuring the blade with pure Aurum Fire. Calamojin could only brace himself as the power from Zaraki crushed his flames. Zaraki's unimaginable aura slowly took shape, wings parting from the mass of energy as a great golden Phoenix hovered over the 11th Division Captain. Those buildings that had not yet been destroyed crumbled under the weight of Zaraki's spirit pressure. Calamojin stood in stupefaction at the overwhelming power.

"How do you continue to surpass me like this!" he raged, his teeth bared in a berserk fury. "I shall destroy you now with all of my power; I will not allow you to increase in strength any more!" The flames roared out once again, filling half the once-great city of Tokyo. The other half remained dominated by the Phoenix of light and Zaraki Kenpachi. The two auras of power conflicted and vied for dominance.

"I trust in my strength and become one with my battle; it is not a matter of surpassing you, it is a matter of exerting myself to the fullest potential to know whether I am strong or weak. This final confrontation will decide the contest between you and I, Calamojin Casaste, and also the contest to surpass myself in each battle." Zaraki concentrated, pulling all his power to himself. Calamojin did the same, and the showdown commenced.

The two ran towards each other, summoning all the power they had at their disposal towards one goal: to send the other to their grave. Red-black flames trailed behind Calamojin and his aura coalesced into the demonic face of Hell once again. Zaraki's aura coalesced into the Golden Phoenix, and the two massive representation of their power also rushed towards confrontation.

The clash instantly turned the entire city to ash, and an explosion beyond the scale of human comprehension rocked the entire country of Japan. The Phoenix bisected the demonic face and Calamojin's aura exploded as the sound of broken metal echoed.

Smoke cleared from the scene of devastation, and thus did the battle stand. Zaraki stood, his back to the Arrancar, his Zanpakutoh sheathed. Calamojin, his eyes white, no longer burning with fire, stared at the hole in his chest that measured over a foot across. His sword, though seemingly made of flame only moments before, lay in shattered metal pieces on the ground.

The Arrancar choked on purple blood and fell to the ground, a large pool spilling onto the ground and seeping into the ash that lay all around. His blood-filled mouth managed to speak three words, "I'm sorry….Aizen-sama…" before his eyes went completely blank and he lay still.

Zaraki grinned evilly as he walked away. "I can't wait until I find Ichigo again. Now where is he supposed to be… ?"

**THE END (**Thanks for reading!)


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